Indigo
Mr. Fedorov turned out to be Ivan. Astrid led Lennon and me into the penthouse, and I could see the blond Russian in question sitting at the dining room table with a complicated laptop set up, his fingers tip-tapping across the keys as he glared at the screen.
“Hey, Spike, where’s my knobbly-kneed cousin?
” My voice must have summoned Riordan because he came from somewhere deeper in the penthouse.
Astrid made a weird snorting sound from behind me.
Either she was trying not to laugh or she needed a tissue.
“There he is! Hey, cuz! We’re here to hang out because of all the misogyny in biker culture and also because we were bored. What are you guys up to?”
Riordan adjusted the cuffs of his gray button-down shirt, the silver metal of his cuff links winking at me as he crossed the room and gave me a kiss on the cheek in greeting.
It was better than the awkward hand kisses we’d traded the first time we’d met, and I felt the cockles of my demented little heart warm at the gesture.
My cousin always looked so put together in his fancy shirt and slacks, and I could see Lennon eye him appreciatively out of the corner of my eye.
If she wasn’t stupid in love with Bones, I’d be trying my best to play matchmaker right about now.
“Ms. Vaughn,” Riordan spoke to Astrid without bothering to look at her, “you’re dismissed.
” I didn’t love the way his voice changed when he spoke to Astrid, but if she didn’t seem to mind, maybe it wasn’t my place to say anything.
Astrid gave me a small smile when I waved goodbye, but otherwise, the only sound that accompanied her exit was the click of her high heels on the floor.
“So what are you guys up to? Ivan looks super into whatever he’s doing on his laptop. Is he playing a game? I heard someone on Lennon’s phone say that Hello Kitty Island Adventure is all the rave right now.” Lennon tried to hide a smirk as Riordan snickered.
“Not exactly, lisichka.”
“The only kitty I want to see on my screen is—”
“Sobrat,” Riordan growled in warning.
Ivan rolled his eyes at my cousin. “I’m not playing a game,” he explained in a bored tone, “I’m trying to figure out what the Callahans are up to and waiting to hear back from Nicodemus.”
“About what?” I asked, genuinely curious about the mysterious dark web persona who ran the Astraea platform.
I pulled the cool rock I found out of my pocket and super subtly wedged it between the cushions of the sectional couch.
For lack of a better word, The Goldfinch was the Petrovs’ home in Nevada, and I felt like maybe I could start leaving small pieces of me here and there to make my mark on it.
I didn’t have shared memories, family photos, or mementos…
or anything other than blood tying me to these people.
If I could be sneaky and hide a bits and bobs of mine in their space, it would help us get used to each other.
Like when a puppy leaves its momma, and the puppy parent takes a piece of fabric with the mother’s scent on it to make the puppy feel more comfortable in its new home. But in reverse.
Ivan’s eyes remained on his screen while I hid my rock.
“We haven’t heard anything regarding The Consortium since our interrogation of Gregor,” Ivan said as he scrolled.
“He told us what he’d been up to with the Beast of Boston, so I’ve been trying to reach out to Nicodemus to find out if he’s heard anything.
The problem is, Nicodemus contacts you, you don’t contact him. ”
“Oh yeah, how is Gregor doing?” Lennon asked with a vicious little smirk.
“He’s no longer wasting oxygen, so I’d say he’s doing better than he did when he was alive,” Ivan drawled in a bored tone.
“Indi, I was wondering if you and Lennon would like to—”
Riordan was interrupted by his cell phone, which had begun to ring.
He answered the call with an apologetic face.
“Zdravstvuyte. Da…Seychas? Indigo zdes′. Ponyal.” I felt an annoying sense of frustration at not being able to understand what my cousin was saying.
It sounded an awful lot like I was going to get to ride a pony.
I distinctly heard my name and a word close enough to pony to pique my interest. I really needed to download that green bird app to my phone so I could learn how to speak Russian.
Lennon and Bones were sort of teaching me Spanish, but most of the phrases I’d learned were curse words or basic things like “My name is Indigo,” “Where is the hospital?” and “Don’t touch me or I’ll cut off your baby dick. ”
“No me toques o te cortaré la verga de bebé,” I said to Riordan after he’d ended his call. Lennon snickered. Riordan quirked a brow in question, and I just held my hands up.
“Isn’t very nice, is it?” Ivan coughed out a laugh at my antics, ducking his head behind his laptop to hide his snicker at my cousin’s expense.
“Threatening my manhood? No, that isn’t very nice, at all,” my cousin drawled, mischief making his green eyes flash.
“Yo hablo espanol. German, French, and Italian too, if you ever need a translator.” Lennon was full-on giggling at my pout, annoyed that I couldn’t get the last word in unless it was going to be in boring old Inglés.
“That was my father. Something has come up and he’d like to speak with both of us.
Privately.” He turned to Lennon. “Would you be comfortable staying here with Ivan? I could always call Astrid in, if that would be preferable?” My bestie caught my eye, and we had a silent conversation, like all true, star-blessed best friends can do. Bob, I loved her.
I lifted my shoulder, and she shrugged. “I’ll be fine waiting here with Ivan.
Maybe I can convince him to show me that picture of your knees in those scout shorts.
Indigo said they looked like a giraffe’s.
” I shot Riordan an apologetic look, but the effort was wasted with Ivan’s sinister chuckle.
Riordan opened the door and scanned the hallway, ensuring that everything was safe before he moved back and held the door for me.
“Ivan would never,” Riordan said as I passed him and waved at the guards stationed there, his tone filled with absolute certainty. “Because he knows retaliation would be swift and devastating. Two words, sobrat. Senior. Formal.”
Ivan, who was already blond and more than a little pale, went slightly gray around the edges. He swallowed roughly and turned to Lennon. “Such a photo doesn’t exist. Riordan doesn’t even have knees. New topic.”
Riordan chuckled while Lennon began teasing Ivan about something called a prom-posal.
“That ought to keep them busy for a while,” he said with an impish grin.
I cackled like a witch as Riordan told me all about his and Ivan’s senior formal dance, what Ivan wore, and the hilarious shit they got up to that night.
My cousin wasn’t a dum-dum, though. He made me pinky swear not to repeat the story while we were in the elevator.
Bob, I wish he hadn’t, though, because Lennon would die laughing if I could tell her. Alas, a promise is a promise.
Our smiles and easy laughter died the moment we entered my uncle’s office and saw the look on his face.
Mikhail’s wiry black hair, peppered through with silver, was swept back and styled away from his face.
His beard was neatly trimmed close to his sharp jaw.
Dark and thick brows sat heavily over his stormy-green eyes, but they warmed slightly at the sight of my cousin and me.
Mikhail rose from his seat behind an imposing wooden desk and circled around, buttoning his suit jacket as he went.
He pulled Riordan into what looked like a hug disguised as a handshake, where one hand clasped his son’s, and the other pulled him into a quick embrace.
My uncle turned to me next and opened his arms for a hug, waiting to see if I’d accept it.
Grateful for the choice, I decided to go with my gut instinct.
You’d think, given my experiences I’ve had with “uncles” in the past, I’d give the mob boss finger guns in return in the best case, and actual guns in the worst case.
But nope! Apparently, my tummy was all in.
It was telling me that Mikhail might be a bad guy, but he wasn’t a bad guy.
No warning bells sounded as I tentatively stepped into his offered embrace, and he gently hugged me, as though I were something precious.
The hug was short, two or three heartbeats at most, but those few moments made my brain hum in contentment.
The care he took when handling me was sweet, and if I didn’t think it might offend the big bad pakhan, I’d tell him that to his face.
Mikhail gestured for me to sit and leaned back against his desk.
“There’s no delicate way to say this, so I’m going to be blunt and speak to you now, Indigo, the way I speak to my son.
I’ve contacted the Callahans, demanding a meeting with Seamus so I can formally declare war on the Irish for the almost certain murder of my sister and the mistreatment of my niece at his brother’s hands.
The coward refuses to meet in person, but he’s agreed to a video conference.
” Mikhail licked his lips and continued.
“I want you to be there with me when he calls, Indigo.”
Riordan shifted a bit in his seat, but he didn’t say anything at his father’s words. “Why would you want me there?” I asked. “I didn’t see Seamus all that often, so it’s not like he’s gonna want to catch up on watercooler gossip with me.”
“I believe that my sister must have been Roark’s prisoner when we all thought she’d gone missing.
They had to keep her around long enough to give birth to you, at the very least. If Tatiana had escaped somehow, she’d have found a way to come home to us by now.
” My uncle swallowed a grimace, fighting not to let me see how much he still grieved for his sister.
“Regardless, you are living proof of Roark’s monstrosity, and you alone can place Gregor with Roark and The Consortium.
Seamus may not know what his little brother is planning, but ignorance won’t save him now.
I’m going to wipe them off the map and watch as their petty empire burns to ash. ”
My mind drifted to Priest, who’d never gotten the satisfaction of watching his sister’s killer’s world burn.
I didn’t regret killing Hoodie Guy since it was literally him or me.
I’d kill him again if I could, only this time I’d make it last longer so the poopy-head could really suffer.
I couldn’t go back in time and help Priest get brotherly vengeance, but I could help Mikhail.
It was just a video call. Seamus couldn’t hurt me, and I felt safe(ish) here in Nevada with my new family.
I could do this. What was the worst that could happen?